


Way She Moves, The

by cathyearnshaw



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-06-29
Updated: 2005-06-29
Packaged: 2019-04-28 03:59:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14440965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cathyearnshaw/pseuds/cathyearnshaw
Summary: Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived atSpooky Awards, and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project in 2018. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address onSpookyAwards' collection profile.





	Way She Moves, The

**Author's Note:**

> Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Spooky Awards](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Spooky_Awards), and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project in 2018. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [SpookyAwards' collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/spookyawards/profile).

Title: The Way She Moves  
Author: Catherine Earnshaw  


Classification: vignette, Mulder POV. Companion piece for "The Eyes of the Beholder", which I wrote for Fandomonium's Voyeur Challenge. 

Spoilers: bits and pieces of season six 

Archive: I'll take care of Gossamer and Ephemeral. Anywhere else, please let me know. 

Disclaimer: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully and the X-Files belong to Chris Carter and 1013 Productions. But they'd be nothing without David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. I mean no copyright infringement with my story; I just love them too much to let go of them. The rating of "PG" is trademarked by the MPAA. 

Dedicated to Susan, who gave me the idea for this story, and to Sallie, the ultimate Scullyfan. 

Thanks, as always, to Mimsy, beta-Godmother and mentor. 

http://www.cybillxfilesopus.com/catherineearnshaw/home.htm 

* * *

Something in the way she moves   
Attracts me like no other lover   
Something in the way she woos me 

I don't want to leave her now   
You know I believe and how 

Somewhere in the way she smiles   
That I don't need no other lover   
Something in her style that shows me 

I don't want to leave her now   
You know I believe and how 

You're asking me will my love grow   
I don't know, I don't know   
You stick around and it may show   
I don't know, I don't know 

Something in the way she knows   
All I have to do is think of her   
Something in the things she shows me 

I don't want to leave her now   
You know I believe and how 

(George Harrison) 

* * *

The Way She Moves 

Scully is staring at me. 

She thinks I haven't noticed. I certainly have. She might not be aware, but I notice everything about her. 

I felt her eyes on me all the way through our meeting with Skinner. She was stealing glances -- she's nothing if not discreet -- but she was definitely not paying attention to our boss. She was biting her lip and licking the corner of her mouth in that way of hers. I had to try very hard to focus on the expense sheets in front of me. 

Skinner was in full scolding mode, not that I hadn't given him good reason. Those darn Louisiana swamps. It wasn't my fault that the road was slippery and I ended up drowning a car. And it wasn't my fault that some crazy voodoo practitioner decided to use his Hot Wheels miniatures as a weapon against us and managed to shove Scully and myself onto a ten-foot ledge. 

The laptop which went through the windshield didn't help matters, either. 

I know she was a bit upset, but she didn't blame me. She was in the car, after all. She saw the steering wheel moving of its own accord. She also saw the gas pedal slam all the way to the floor when my foot was on the brake. She'd told Skinner she had no explanation for the phenomena, and then gone silent. 

Now, I know Skinner is open to extreme possibilities. He has to be to put up with us. The problem is he's facing the Financial Department, and they're not happy. 

That's how we got stuck in Skinner's office in a bright Friday afternoon, me being lectured mercilessly and Scully pretending she was listening, but actually looking at me. 

I'm not complaining. She can look her fill. Hell, I'll give her front row seats to watch me do anything she wants. I'm just trying to understand what's going on, while justifying an outrageous Lariat bill to my boss. 

Right now, we're back in our office. I pretend to be interested in my computer while she stands and stares at me. Scully is still holding the expense sheets and the Louisiana file. She's got a strange look on her face. It's a focused, deliberate stare -- it makes me feel like she's studying me. It's the scientist in her. She won't cease being herself just because she happens to be in love with me. 

That sounded extremely presumptuous, but I know it's true. I believe she knows I love her too. I wonder who will break first. I almost put an end to the suspense once, when she fished me out of that Nazi nightmare. She had the perfect excuse to dismiss my outburst -- I was high on painkillers, and a Demerol-induced proclamation of love isn't exactly what I'd call a good move. But she knows. 

She drops the paper load on the desk, and all of a sudden I can't stand the idea of talking about work. I loosen my tie -- I hate the damned things. People think I used to wear loud ties because I lack fashion sense, when in fact it was an act of rebellion. Scully has tamed my dress code over the years. I could see her cringing every time I wore the one with the little green alien heads. 

Throwing my reading glasses at the desk, I stand up and face her. Her gaze stops at the discarded object for a fraction of a second. I have to struggle not to smile. Busted, Scully. I know she likes to see me wearing my glasses. I aim to please. I'll gladly throw my contacts away if it makes her happy. 

She looks puzzled, since I have just turned my computer on and now I'm about to leave the office. 

"I'm going for a walk. Join me?" I don't give her a chance to protest. I bolt out, press the elevator button and the doors automatically open in front of me. I hold them open as she comes out of the office, locking the door before getting into the elevator and giving me The Eyebrow. I'm stressed out -- a hint of a headache makes my forehead pound. I pinch the bridge of my nose to drive the pain back. She's still looking at me. 

It's a beaufitul afternoon. The sun makes Scully's hair shine. I wish I could see red in moments like these. She walks in silence beside me, letting me set the route. I know where I'm going, and I suspect she knows, too. Our bench. We could call it our temporary X-Files office, since this was our meeting place during those awful months when we were apart, having to pretend to be strangers when we craved each other's presence. 

She's so beautiful. It saddens me that she doesn't know that. She sees her height as a major drawback and her petite frame as a hindrance. I'm well aware of the hours she spends at the gym and the self-defense classes she regularly takes. Always trying to outdo herself, my Scully. When we first met, I thought she was pretty, but I was determined not to let her get too close. The physical attraction was there, but I tried to drown it under tasteless innuendo and raucous jokes. She's a Navy brat, after all, she could take it. 

As the years passed, she changed from pretty to stunning before my colorblind eyes. Her features are more pronounced now. She carries herself with a certainty that fascinates me. The attraction has only gotten stronger, but then again, I was attracted to Phoebe. I was attracted to Diana. When they left, I drowned in self-pity and drank myself into a stupor, but I survived without them just fine. Take Scully away from me and you might as well cut my oxygen supply. 

Scully's sure steps match mine. It's synchronicity, and I'm amazed -- I don't even have to slow down so she'll keep up. It comes to us naturally. 

See, I have never been that fond of the Beatles -- my taste leans more to the Stones -- but I could make George Harrison's words mine. 

Something in the way she moves attracts me like no other lover. 

Not that she's my lover, in the strictest sense of the word. But if not lovers, what are we? Partners? Friends? Those words would have been enough once. Not anymore. Not in a long time, at least for me. 

We sit together facing the Potomac, both looking at the dirty water. I remember a thousand moments when I sat here alone, and send a silent prayer to whichever higher power exists that she's here now. 

Her hand touches my back softly, and I move mine to her knee, giving it a brief squeeze. Those are strangely intimate touches, and neither of us flinch. I wonder once again when it's gonna happen, when we'll finally drop the shields - I hope it will come out of joy rather than despair; I pray it won't take a bullet or a hospital bed to drive us to each other's arms. 

I stand up, holding out my hand. She takes it, and I'm at the same time surprised and elated that she's acknowledged this simple public display of affection. She smiles, I smile back, and as we walk back to work I look at the way she moves and find myself caught in love. 

The end 

* * *

Author's notes: 

  * I realized I made a mistake in "The Eyes of the Beholder": Mulder and Scully's bench is by the Potomac River, not the reflective pool. I'm correcting it here, and I do apologize. 
  * The last sentence is a personal tribute to one of my favourite bands, Belle and Sebastian. "If you find yourself caught in love" is in their fifth album, "Dear Catastrophe Waitress." 



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Title: **Way She Moves, The**  
Author: Catherine Earnshaw  
Details: 8k  ·  PG  ·  Standalone  ·  06/29/05  ·   Email/Website      
Gossamer Category(Keywords): Vignette   [UST]     
Pairings: Mulder/Scully UST 


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